Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Co. (NYSE:ZWS) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.67.

Several research firms have issued reports on ZWS. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $39.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Zurn Elkay Water Solutions news, major shareholder Aimee Katz sold 8,912,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.60, for a total value of $299,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,002,819 shares in the company, valued at $504,094,718.40. This represents a 37.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David J. Pauli sold 8,390 shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total transaction of $297,593.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,107,272.70. This represents a 12.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 184.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,556,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304,285 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $80,457,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,441,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,119,777 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $61,412,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Zurn Elkay Water Solutions by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,880,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,642 shares during the last quarter. 83.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Stock Performance

ZWS stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.41. The company had a trading volume of 280,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,744. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions has a 1-year low of $28.25 and a 1-year high of $41.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.16.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (NYSE:ZWS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.04. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 10.23%. On average, analysts expect that Zurn Elkay Water Solutions will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Zurn Elkay Water Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.13%.

About Zurn Elkay Water Solutions

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation engages in design, procurement, manufacture, and marketing of water management solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers water safety and control products, such as backflow preventers, fire system valves, pressure reducing valves, thermostatic mixing valves, PEX pipings, fittings, and installation tools under the Zurn and Wilkins brand names.